This invention relates to fences made from discarded tire casings.
Although conventional barbwire and electric fences are employed to enclose countless square miles of land, their use is attended by serious disadvantages well known to every farmer and rancher.
The original cost of the fencing materials is very high. Metal fence posts rust and wood fence posts rot. The fences require constant policing and constant expensive maintenance. They are subject to damage by snow, sleet and ice. Stock can reach through them to graze forbidden areas. Stock animals are prone to crowd and press against the fence posts and/or wires, which ultimately yield, whereby the fence is destroyed.
Thus on the one hand farmers and ranchers are plagued with fences which are costly and possess serious disadvantages. On the other hand society is plagued with a superabundance of waste pneumatic tire casings.
It is the general purpose of the present invention to cancel out the one disadvantage with the other with attendant economic benefit to all concerned.
In particular, it is the general object of the present invention to provide a fence adapted for wide scale farm and range application and made entirely from discarded pneumatic tire casings.
Such a fence has many and significant advantages:
It is of low cost, the tire casing raw materials having no economic value whatsoever. It possesses great strength -- more than adequate to withstand crowding and pushing by range cattle and other stock. It is quickly and cheaply erected with a minimum of labor, using tools and fasteners readily available to the farmer.
It is not subject to rot nor to damage by the elements and hence has an indefinite service life. It can be looked through to observe events transpiring on the other side. It is stable against force exerted in any direction. It is paintable for improved appearance. If an electric fence, it is self-insulating. It does not require corner posts.
It is of especial interest that the tire fence of my invention possesses an inherent resiliency which makes it of particular value in confining stock. When cattle, horses or other heavy animals lean against it, it is not rigid and inflexible, as are fence posts and fencing wire. To the contrary, it is resiliently yielding, bending with the applied force and returning to its original position when the force is withdrawn.
This is both strange and distasteful to farm and range animals, partly because they are accustomed to the stability of conventional fences and partly because of an instinctive apprehension induced by the yielding qualities of the fence. As a result, the animals shun the fence and do not subject it to stresses which otherwise might damage it.
All of these advantages are obtained by the provision of a fence made from discarded tire casings -- a commodity available in unlimited amount and worse than valueless since it presents a costly disposal problem. My invention thus has important ecological benefits.
The tire fence of my invention broadly comprises a plurality of pneumatic tire casings arranged in contiguous relation in a plurality of superimposed substantially coplanar courses. Trench or other supporting means support the bottom course in substantially vertical position. Fastening means such as bolts fasten the contiguous casings to each other. One or more wires are strung along the fence and fastened thereto by suitable fasteners such as ring type fasteners.
The courses preferably are arranged in staggered relation to achieve planar continuity of the fence. Half casings are positioned to square off the end portions of the staggered courses. Buttressing tires are placed at selected intervals the length of the fence, arranged at right angles to the fence and bearing against the component casings thereof for increasing fence stability.